TOUKON TAG TOURNAMENT

4. TOUKON TAG TOURNAMENT - ROUND 1: Hammerstein & Sheik Spectre beat Shinjiro Nakama & Heartbreak Kanagawa by pinfall (Hammer on Kanagawa) in 13:29 after a screwdriver suplex.

5. TOUKON TAG TOURNAMENT - SEMI FINAL: Chris Ravenna & Shigeru Toyama beat Umetaro Sakamoto & Balloon Yamazaki by submission (Toyama on Yamazaki) in 12:05 with a triangle choke.

6. TOUKON TAG TOURNAMENT - SEMI FINAL: Billy Danielson & AJ Knight beat Hammerstein & Sheik Spectre by pinfall (Danielson on Spectre) in 13:45 after a uranage.

7. TOUKON TAG TOURNAMENT - FINAL: Billy Danielson & AJ Knight beat Chris Ravenna & Shigeru Toyama by pinfall (Danielson on Toyama) in 19:57 with a horizontal cradle. 

A raucous crowd in Tokyo saw nearly two hours of tag team action as the TOUKON TAG TOURNAMENT took place to determine the number one contenders to GRIM and Falcon Hamada's World Tag Team titles.  In the opener, the Dojo students fought hard against the graduates but a suplex from Sakamoto left Himura prone for Yamazaki's diving body press and not even the "Genius" could kick out of three hundred and twenty five pounds crashing down on him. 

The second bout saw the newly formed tandem of shooters, World's Jr. Heavyweight Champion Chris Ravenna and Shigeru Toyama put down the brother combination of Hiro and Kono Masaki.  Ravenna would pick up yet another submission victory with his Ravenna Clutch, this time submitting Hiro Masaki.  Afterwards, Toyama got on the microphone and told the live crowd that he and Ravenna could tap out anyone - and would only win their matches this evening by submission!

AJ Knight was revealed yesterday to be Billy Danielson's mystery partner for the third match and despite appearing to be in limbo for the last chunk of his Lion's Road run, he was very rejuvenated in this match.  He went seven minutes without making a tag to Danielson, who pretended to nap with his head on the top turnbuckle.  The Maximum Effort team of Naoki Ojima and Red Tiger Kid tried to persevere through the unruly tactics of Billy Danielson and shortcuts from AJ Knight, but were unsuccessful in the end - Danielson delivered a knee to Ojima and that left him as easy pickings for an AJ Knight DDT.

The Tokyo crowd came alive every time Hammerstein and Nakama locked up in the final first round match, ahead of their World's title showdown on June 14th.  If there was an attempt to get inside each other's head, I'd say both men came to a stalemate - or wound up coming out of the match with more respect for each other as they dished out a lot, but kept coming back for more.  Hammerstein took the German suplex that's taken down many men and got right back up, delivering a pounce before succumbing to the effects.  However, it would be Heartbreak Kanagawa who would feel the wrath of the Hammersteiner as it put him away in thirteen minutes to let the Champ and the Mad Arab advance.

Ravenna and Toyama made good on Toyama's statement as the Starboy managed to avoid Balloon Yamazaki's hip drop and slapped on a triangle choke, earning the tapout victory to put his team into the finals.  Ravenna smirked as Toyama talked trash in the post-match interview, hoping that they would get the World's Heavyweight Champion in the finals.  However, they would not - as the Gaijin GOATs team of Billy Danielson and AJ Knight jumped the Champ and Spectre before the bell and brawled all around ringside.  Danielson and Knight double suplexed Hammerstein onto an upright guardrail, effectively eliminating him from the conclusion of the match.  While the Mad Arab fought well for 2 on 1, the numbers game caught up to him and he was pinned after a uranage.

With the finals set, a brief intermission took place.  Hammerstein was helped to the back by the young boys while Arnold Cunningham cackled at the sight, saying that if two lowly American fighters could dent the armor of the World's Champion like that... imagine what A MOUNTAIN OF A MAN could do to him one on one.  Hammerstein grabbed the tie of the well dressed spokesmen and threatened him, before pushing him down to the ground. 

In the finals, Chris Ravenna and Shigeru Toyama were a well oiled machine, using quick tags and isolating body parts.  They worked on AJ's arm, trying to hamper his chances of executing a proper DDT while Danielson had his back worked over.  The Gaijin GOATS had some miscommunication throughout the match, coming face to face at one point.  However, cooler heads prevailed and a Toyama flying knee missed its intended target and sent the World's Jr. Heavyweight Champ down instead.  With the Starboy stunned, Danielson grabbed him and drove him head first into AJ! The unconventional tactic sent AJ to the ground, but Danielson rolled up Toyama and scored the win! AJ tried to question Danielson after the match, back in the locker room but the GOAT simply said, "We won, didn't we?" and told the Demon Brigade to buy up all the mist they can get their hands on because the GOATS are coming for their belts!